...we are now taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming. Do not adjust your computer monitors. For the next few posts I will be updating from my phone--sans pictures unfortunately, but I want to blog while japan is still fresh in my mind. EDIT 2/6: Pictures now--all taken by Lana and myself.
Sunset at Kansai
So Lana, Steve and I made it to Kyoto, Japan after a long day of travel! Mind you, the flight to Osaka from Seoul is only 1hr45min, but we had to catch an airport bus, which run once every three hours, and be mindful of traffic. It's lunar new year here and the traffic today would be as bad as the day before thanksgiving. So we spent a lot of time at the airport, which is a glorified mall with some planes you can catch home instead of a bus.
Arriving in japan was surreal. For the first time in my adventuring the past few months, I was in a country where not one person in our party knew where we were. It was square one for all of us. Fortunately, good planning saved us. We took an express train from Kansai airport straight into the heart of Kyoto. Our lovely hostel (highly ranked by my favorite trvel site:
hostelworld.com) was only 2 subway stops away. Perfect. The subwy was where we stalled. But it was easy enough to get back on track, check in, and realize we were really hungry for a good japanese food dinner.
Right next to the hostel was a little alley, pointing to a tiny restaurant that said "vegetarian food and bar" so we went in. First off, I'm surprised at how many places we have been so far in Kyoto don't have english translations--food places especially. I'm not saying that they should--it's just even Seoul seemed to have more, and Kyoto is such a major tourist city.
So anyway, we enter this tiny little restaurant. Or rather, it's set up almost like a jazz coffee bar you'd find in Berkeley or something. Books on the shelf, bar to eat at. Piano in the corner and coffee+vegan cake for sale. Jazz played on the radio and the three of us had a "where are we?" moment. The lady did not speak English, but she did speak the international language of crazy cat lady. Cat stuff as everywhere--calenders, toys, pictures. You name it. There was even a cat in the restaurant (sanitary...?) anyway--there was a small stove and food that seemed to belong to a greasy spoon or your grandmothers kitchen. Except vegan.
The menu was in Japanese except for "vegetarian platter" which was the main dish. We took a chance and ordered three.
Now, those of you who know me well understand that I am a very picky person. And I don't like surprises in my food. But here we were, and for the first time since I arrived in Asia I could order something blindly off the menu and not worry about meat. So I did. And I tried it all. Even the mushrooms. My vegetables were mixed. Some of you should be proud. It was incredibly delicious and for the first time I felt I was really experiencing the overall culture f a place. Culinary adventures.
Not wanting to go back to our hostel right away, we went for a walk and stumbled upon a few ice cream parlours. Or rather, parfait parlours. Um...wow these things were amazing works of art. Lana and I couldn't resist--we got a chocolate parfait with vanilla, brownie, and whipped cream. A perfect end to the day.
Nishiki Market.
Lipton Tea House..a place for dessert and dinner?
mmmm....
Our private triple room is now the adventure fort. We sit under one of the bunks with the emergency flashlight that comes in our room and plot out the next day's adventures. Tomorrow I hope to see some crazy shit--it's new years day and there are theatre performances, dances, and bonfires around the temples. Epic.
Xoxo,
Antonia
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